Consolidated Orthogonal Guide Creation

1. A method for generating a guide line comprising: detecting by a processor a cursor positioned over a ruler on a user interface of an authoring program executing on the processor; altering an appearance of the cursor by the processor from a first shape to a second shape; receiving a first input from a user at the processor, the first input associated with a user input device; generating the guide line in a first orientation if the first input from the user input device is a click; and generating the guide line in a second orientation orthogonal to the first orientation if the first input from the user input device is a click-and-hold while moving the cursor away from the ruler.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: positioning the guide line over a workspace in a position indicated by the first input, wherein the guide line is not part of a document opened by the authoring program.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising: receiving a second input from the user at the processor, the second input associated with the user input device, and wherein the second shape of the cursor comprises two parallel lines, the first input comprises a click-and-hold input, and the second input comprises a dragging input for positioning the guide line over the workspace.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the ruler and the guide line have a horizontal orientation.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: positioning the cursor having the first shape over the ruler; altering the first shape of the cursor to the second shape of the cursor; receiving a third input from the user at the processor, the third input comprising a click; and displaying a second guide line over the workspace orthogonal to the guide line.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the second guide line is a vertically oriented guide line.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: selecting the guide line; selecting a function for modifying a visual characteristic of the guide line; and modifying the visual characteristic of the guide line in response to input from the user.

8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: selecting the guide line; and dragging the guide line to a side of the workspace, wherein the guide line is no longer presented to the user.

9. The method of claim 3 , wherein the ruler is horizontally oriented, the first input is a click, and the guide line is vertically oriented.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second input is a dragging input moving a position of the guide line.

11. A system for displaying a guide line comprising: a processor configured to detect a cursor positioned over a ruler displayed on a user interface of an authoring program, alter an appearance of the cursor from a first shape to a second shape in response to detecting the cursor positioned over the ruler, receive a first input from the user at the processor, the first input associated with a user input device, generate the guide line in a first orientation if the first input is a click, and generate the guide line in a second orientation orthogonal to the first orientation if the first input is a click-and-hold followed by input moving the cursor away from the ruler.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to: display the guide line in a vertical manner when the ruler is horizontally oriented and the first input is the click; and display the guide line in a horizontal manner when the ruler is vertically oriented and the first input is the click.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to: display the guide line in a horizontal manner when the ruler is horizontally oriented and the first input is the click-and-hold follow by input moving the cursor away from the ruler.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to display the guide line when the cursor extends beyond a threshold value away from the ruler.

15. The system of claim 11 , further comprising: a display controlled by the processor for displaying the guide line on the user interface.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the first input from the user, the input associated with the user input device, receive a second input selecting the guide line, and display a dialog box for changing a visual characteristic of the guide line.

17. A computer readable storage media comprising instructions that when executed cause a computer to: detect a cursor positioned over a ruler on a user interface of an authoring program, the authoring program configured to edit a document in a workspace of the authoring program; alter an appearance of the cursor from a first shape to a second shape in response to detecting the cursor positioned over the ruler; receive a first input from a user; generate the guide line in a first orientation orthogonal to the ruler if the first input is a click; and generate the guide line in a second orientation parallel to the ruler if the first input is a click-and-hold that moves the cursor away from the ruler.

18. The computer readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computer to: receive a second input from the user and position the guide line over the workspace of the authoring program in response to receiving the second input, wherein the guide line is not part of the document authored opened by the authoring program.

19. The computer readable storage media of claim 18 , further comprising a third input for displaying a dialog box for changing a visual characteristic of the guide line.

20. The computer readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the ruler is horizontally oriented, the first orientation is vertical, and the second orientation is horizontal.